New Johnnie Walker houses at Mumbai and Taipei

Diageo Global Travel has announced the opening of two Johnnie Walker House retail showcase stores in travel retail – one in Mumbai, India and another in Taipei, Taiwan.

Following the opening of the Johnnie Walker Houses in Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul and continuing the brand’s mantra of ‘Keep Walking’, the houses in Mumbai and Taipei are described as “multi-sensory embassies for luxury blended scotch whisky. The houses are designed to "educate and inspire travellers by providing them with a luxurious and engaging shopping experience that encapsulates the history, provenance and pioneering spirit of the Johnnie Walker brand".

To celebrate the inauguration of the houses, a limited edition bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label has been created. The Johnnie Walker House Art Collection – Mumbai Edition will be available exclusively at Mumbai International Airport.

Diageo Global Travel and Middle East (GTME) managing director Doug Bagley said: “We are delighted to bring not one, but two Johnnie Walker Houses to life in partnership with our customers in key travel retail channels globally. This reinforces our long-term commitment to providing travelers with a luxurious, unparalleled shopping experience in one of the fastest-growing retail channels worldwide. Both airports are key travel hubs, handling a combined 63 million passengers a year which make them perfect locations for Johnnie Walker Houses within our burgeoning industry. We are confident that they will surprise and delight consumers with an unmatched retail space and deliver a luxurious shopping experience.”

Houses’ global general manager Lawrence Law said: “I’m delighted to see the extension of the Johnnie Walker Houses into travel retail. It’s a move that highlights the esteem with which we hold our commercial travel retail partners. We believe it’s important to immerse consumers in our brand and these houses will provide them with the first luxury retail experience beyond our flagship Johnnie Walker Houses."

The Johnnie Walker House Mumbai in collaboration with DFS Group and Flemingo International is located in the departures concourse of Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. To celebrate the opening, an exclusive Johnnie Walker Houses Art Collection – Mumbai Edition – has been created. The special bottle shows a unique interpretation of the original Johnnie Walker journey from Scotland to India in 1883* and reflects the brand’s heritage as one of the world’s first international brands.

Abanti Sankaranarayanan, managing director, Diageo India, said: "Johnnie Walker is the iconic luxury scotch in India. In line with the consumers' desire for unique experiences and evolving taste palates, we launch the Johnnie Walker House at the Mumbai International Airport. The Johnnie Walker Houses are our global embassies for luxury scotch whisky and we are proud to extend this world class experience to our Indian consumers. The new Johnnie Walker Houses will be home to some of the rarest and most luxurious blends from Diageo’s portfolio that are unrivalled in taste, heritage and craftsmanship.”

The Johnnie Walker House Taiwan, launching late September 2014, will be in the departures concourse after immigration at Terminal 2 of Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei. Johnnie Walker first traded in Taiwan in 1925. Travellers can purchase a range of exclusive whisky collections, that are exclusively available at Johnnie Walker House Taiwan.

Starting this month, all consumers will be able to access their own copy of Johnnie Walker Houses Edit, a quarterly title dedicated to the art of good living. It will also be available to all patrons of the newly launched properties. Said to be inspired by the Johnnie Walker Houses philosophy of ‘Living Luxury’, the periodical’s first edition explores the subject of fame and its relationship with affluence across art, design, literature, music, drama and the epicurean world. The title is also available digitally via Magzter.

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